Improvement in animal-traps



acta eine Letters Patent No'. 109,614, dated Novemher29, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT lN ANIMAL-TRAPS.

The Schedule referred to in these Lettera Patent and. making pax-t o fl the same.

To all whom. it mag/'concern Be it known that L'WVILLIAM B.. HAMPTON, of Faireld, in -the countyof Wayne and State oflllinois, have invented a new and valuable Improvement 'in Animal-Traps; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction andoperation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing making a vpart of this specilcation, and to the letters and 'iigures of vreference marked thereon.'

Figure lof the drawing -is .a central verticaltransverse sectionof my invention,

My inventionrelates'to means for catching -rats and other'small animals; and

It'consists in the construction and novel arrangement of a case, with a system of radial wings pivoted therein, provided with teeth, and actuated, when re leased from the' automatic set-stop'by the' action of pulling the bait, by a powerful coiled spring, in such ama-nner that the wing -upon which the rat stands givesfway heneath'it at the same time that the adjacent-wing descends nponiit, striking it with its teeth and carrying it "forcibly downward in'to the trap.

Theletter A of vthe drawing designates the case.

B is a shaft pivoted to the lateral walls'oi the case, and provided with\the radial wings O O, having each a row of sharp spikes or teeth, d d, projecting from the outer edge in the direction of rotation.

D represents a powerful coiled spring, one end of which is attached to the ease, and the other end to the shaft B. This spn'ng is arranged to cause the plat form wing, or that one iipon which the Vrat maybe standing,.to rotate downwarihall the others moving with itin thesame direction, which is indicated by the arrow in thedrawng.

The letter fu'represents the lever to which the bait is attached. This lever passes upward throughaslot in the wing, as shown, and care must be'taken to form such slot considerably larger in each direction than the lever, in order to provide play room.

It will be observed that the bait-lever above mentioued has an nin-ight position, and the point thereon at which the bait is to be'attached is at considerable distance from the point at which said lever is pivf oted'to the transverse bar underneath the wing. By

this arrangement great leverage iss'ecnred, and almost positive certainty assured that if the bait be drawn veither to the right, left, or front the trap will be found operative.

In this respect my device varies materially from that of Oliver Metcalf', patented January 14, 1868, If t disclaim any right of invention to anything` shown in said'patent. Y

My trap is set automatically by means of the following vdevices E'represents a springbolt arranged to engage with a catch in the edge oi' the case. .V

F is a pointed lever whose 'short arnr is pivoted tothe bolt E, and whose longA arm projects upward through the wing to receive the fbait. Each wing isV provided ,with such a lever and spring bolt, and as soon as a rat is conveyed downward into the trap itis 're-set-and ready for another.

The combination of the case A, spring D,vl shaft B, toothed wings C, and bait-lever o, 'when constructed 'and arranged to operate' substantiallvas and 'for the purpose' specified.

In testimony that Idcla'im tue above, I havehere-v unto subscribed-my n ame in the-presence of two 'wit- Witnesses:

C, C. Bocas,

W. H.RoBINsoN.

r anni affita, l 

